In 1663, the landlord of
the pub was rewarded by Charles II for giving support to his
executed father and his royalist supporters - The Cavaliers.
During the Civil War, the pub had been used as a mustering place by
King Charles I, where his personal standard had been raised to draw
royalist supporters in fighting for his cause against the
Parliamentarians –The Roundheads. Charles II honoured the
landlord by agreeing to change the name of the pub from The
Ship to “The Royal Standard of England ”, the only pub
in the country with the honour of the full title.
Oak trees can live 200 or more years and a mature oak tree can
draw up to 50 or more gallons of water per day. When they are
20 years old, Oak trees can start producing acorns, but sometimes
can go all the way to 50 years for the first production. By the
time the tree is 70 to 80 years old it will produce thousands of
acorns. Acorn production varies year to year and normally
alternates. Not even the healthiest and largest oak can accumulate
enough food and energy to produce strong crops two years in
succession.
Acorn production increases year after year until the tree
reaches about 100 years of age, when it starts slowing down until
it reaches a yearly production of about 2,200 acorns per year.
It is well known that squirrels hide acorns to last them through
the winter, when food is scarce. They might hide them in their
homes, but they also bury them in the ground. The number of acorns
hidden by animals is pretty small, however, most of the acorns get
hidden by the oak trees. When the oak trees shed their leaves
during the autumn, they end up covering (and thus hiding) most of
the acorns. Many of the hidden acorns get rotten by mold and can
not serve as food for the animals that hid them.